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NBA-Mafia Gambling Bust, Binance Founder Pardoned & Life-Changing GIF - Friday, October 24, 2025
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The news to know for Friday, October 24, 2025! We’ll tell you why some of the NBA’s biggest names—including a Hall of Fame player turned coach—are now facing federal charges in an alleged gambling and mafia scandal. Also, how the government...
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Today is Friday, October 24th. We'll tell you why some of the NBA's biggest names, including a Hall of Fame player turned coach, are now facing federal charges in an alleged gambling and mafia scandal. Also, how the government shutdown might impact travel over Thanksgiving and why President Trump abruptly ended trade talks with Canada. Plus how the richest man in crypto was pardoned, why Amazon drivers may all soon be sporting new glasses and what to expect on baseball's biggest stage. Those stories and even more news to know coming up. Welcome. Welcome to the Newsworthy. All the days news in around 10 minutes. Fast, fair, fun and on the go. I'm Erica Mandy. Thanks so much for being here. You ready? Let's do this. Huge NBA stars are now facing charges for gambling or sports rigging schemes that are apparently linked to the Mafia. They include Portland Trailblazers head coach and former hall of Fame player Chauncey Billups, as well as current Miami Heat player Terry Rozier. They were arrested after a widespread years long FBI investigation that apparently involved two major operations across several states. One centered around allegedly using insider information to place bets on NBA games. The other has to do with underground poker games where authorities say high tech cheating technology was used to steal millions of dollars from victims. We're talking about special contact lenses or glasses that could read pre marked cards, X ray tables that read cards when they were placed face down, and more. They say marks were lured into the rigged poker games in part with the opportunity to play alongside Billups as well as former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones. Jones is actually one of three people charged in both cases. All in all, charges were filed against 34 people besides current and former NBA players and coaches. They include professional poker players and members of four major American crime families. Authorities say the mafia members would collect money by using threats, intimidation and violence and that once they had the money, they would launder it. Investigators say the other operation involved prop bets when people would put money on whether players like Terry Rozier would play or not. He's accused of tipping people off and making hundreds of thousands of dollars that way. But Rozier's lawyer says he's innocent and says the FBI just wanted the publicity of a big name athlete on a perp walk. Billup's lawyer also insisted his client would never risk his legacy or his freedom for anything, let alone a card game. The NBA says both Rozier and Billups were put on leave and that it will keep cooperating with authorities. It looks like the federal government will stay shut down at least until next week. The Senate adjourned until 3pm on Monday without announcing any progress on negotiations. Yesterday, Senate Democrats blocked a GOP bill to pay essential workers, and Senate Republicans blocked the Dems bill that would pay essential and furloughed workers. So many of those federal employees are missing their first full paycheck of the cycle today. Air traffic controllers are set to miss theirs on Tuesday, and because of that, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says he has safety concerns and warns flights could be canceled even into the holiday season. Through it all, members of Congress are still being paid, but a petition circulating online is calling for their paychecks to be withheld, too, something certain members of Congress also support. Stay tuned. President Trump has called off all trade negotiations with Canada. He's upset because the government of the Ontario Province is running a TV ad featuring former US President Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about tariffs, and it's planning to spend $75 million to run them in the U.S. but the Ronald Reagan Presidential foundation and Institute says the ad misrepresented the address the former president was giving by editing out a selected part without permission. And Trump is accusing the province of trying to influence American courts as they consider whether his tariffs are legal. Already this week, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he planned to double Canada's exports to countries besides the US since he doesn't trust Trump at this point, more than three quarters of Canadian exports go to the U.S. and nearly $2.7 billion worth of goods and services cross the border daily. There are a lot of issues still up for debate in Gaza, and now President Trump is threatening Israel, saying its lawmakers have put the ceasefire in jeopardy. In two largely symbolic votes this week, the Israeli government voted in favor of annexing land in the West Bank. But much of the world sees that land as the core of a future Palestinian state. And in an interview with Time magazine published yesterday, Trump said he already promised Arab countries Israel would not annex that land. So Trump said, quote, israel would lose all of its support from the United States if that happened. Of course, the US Is Israel's most important ally. The Trump administration's plan for ending the war in Gaza includes a goal of eventually creating a credible pathway to Palestinian stateh. As of this morning, that ceasefire is still in place, but there are still details to be worked out beyond that pathway to statehood. One of the thorniest issues has been disarming, hamas Vice President J.D. vance said yesterday. That will be up to an international security force that's yet to be formed. And that force is also supposed to secure areas of Gaza where Israeli troops have withdrawn, facilitate aid distribution, train a Palestinian police force, and more. Vance also said there would be no American troops on the ground in Gaza, that American personnel would instead be supervising and mediating the peace to be Continued Today marks exactly 80 years since the United nations was formed to promote peace, human rights and development all around the world. And with that, United Nations Day is being celebrated. Countries worldwide are organizing exhibitions, roundtables and debates to talk about the UN's achievements and challenges. Model UN clubs at schools and universities are also hosting events today with students ready to practice solving global challenges. New York City is hosting a race tomorrow and making it available virtually too, so you can complete your run from anywhere in the world in support of the un. More news is still coming up, but first a break for our sponsor. 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Just scoop, shake and sip with milk or any non dairy beverage for a delicious and nutritious boost your kids will actually enjoy. And we've worked out a special deal with Haya for their best selling children's vitamin. Receive 50% off your first order. To claim this deal you must go to hiahealth.comnewsworthy this deal is not available on their regular website so go to hyahealth. H I Y A h dash e dash a dash l dash t dash dot com Newsworthy and get your kids the full body nourishment they need to grow into healthy adults. Now back to the news. It's considered one of America's environmental jewels and now President Trump has opened it to oil and gas drilling, reversing a ban imposed under former President Biden. Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is believed to sit on top of some 11 billion barrels of oil. But it's also the largest remaining stretch of untouched wilderness in the US that is home to wildlife like grizzly and polar bears, snowy owls, moose, and more. And it's considered sacred by an indigenous group. But many local leaders and tribal corporations say responsible oil development is key to their economic well being. And the reopening is aligned with President Trump's promise to boost domestic energy development. Either way, that's just one plan Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced in Alaska yesterday. He also said the Trump administration finalized a deal to build a controversial gravel road through another Alaskan refuge. A and he reiterated that his agency would greenlight an industrial road cutting through more pristine Alaskan wilderness to reach a proposed copper and zinc mine. As Burgum put it, quote, alaska is open for business, though the plans are expected to be challenged in court. You know how we told you President Trump was planning to send troops to clean up crime in San Francisco? Well, now the president says he's called off his plan just as federal agents were starting to gather at a Coast Guard base in the Bay Area. Trump says he shelved the plans at the request of friends who live there who vouched for the work of the city's Democratic mayor, Daniel Lurie. The mayor has said having the military and militarized immigration enforcement in San Francisco would hurt the city's progress. For now, the Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem, says her team will keep monitoring the situation. The billionaire founder of the world's largest crypto exchange has now been pardoned. You'll remember Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, better known as cz, pleaded guilty and served prison time for money laundering violations. Prosecutors say CZ let hackers, drug dealers, sanctions violators, and even terrorists use his exchange to move hundreds of millions of dollars, all while making money himself. Now, the White House says it's correcting what it sees as overreach by the Biden administration, calling it an example of Biden's war on cryptocurrency. The Trump administration also made the case that there were no identifiable victims in this case. But there are now some questions being raised about a potential conflict of interest, since Binance recently struck a business deal with the Trump family's crypto startup world Liberty Financial. That deal alone is poised to bring in tens of millions of dollars a year for the Trumps. It's worth noting the president has already granted clemency to other prominent crypto executives. And since Trump took office, regulators have dropped lawsuits against large crypto firms. When he pleaded guilty, CZ stepped down as CEO of Binance, but he stayed on as a majority owner and held onto almost all of his wealth. Now this pardon could open a path for Binance to expand or restart operations in the U.S. amazon delivery drivers will soon wear high tech Glasses to work the tech giant says the new AI powered smart glasses display things like hazards and delivery tasks, so drivers should be able to use them to find packages in their vehicle, scan them, follow turn by turn walking directions and capture proof of delete delivery all without having to look at their phones. Plus, the glasses will spot trouble and have an emergency button in case drivers need help. Amazon is testing out the glasses with some delivery drivers now. It plans a wider rollout soon. Baseball's biggest showdown begins tonight with Game one of the World Series. This year, the Los Angeles Dodgers are looking to defend their title and perhaps become a dynasty in the process. They're playing against the Toronto Blue Jays, who are playing their first World Series in more than 30 years. They each had different paths to the Championship Series. The Dodgers made it by sweeping the brewers in four games. The Blue Jays defeated the Yankees in a Game seven. That means Toronto did not have as much time to rest between series, but they do get to start off with a home field advantage. Live coverage of game one starts tonight at 7:00 Eastern on Fox. It will all kick off with a performance by Pharrell Williams. That's it for the main news today. So now it's time for Feel Good Friday when we bring you one extra Feel Good or positive news story before the weekend. But first, a break to thank our sponsor. Have you ever felt like you're just constantly told to be better? A better parent, a better partner, a better worker, a better version of ourselves? It can honestly be exhausting. I used to think I just needed to try harder at everything. But the ironic thing is when I finally stopped putting all that pressure on myself, that's when I actually did get better. My mindset is a huge part of that, and lately I've been loving the Calm app for helping me find the right mindset on a daily basis. I even just five to ten minutes a day truly helps me release stress, slow down, find gratitude, and it absolutely makes a huge difference in how I show up for both myself and the people around me. I love it most for short guided meditations, but I also reach for it when I'm having trouble sleeping or just need a boost of motivation in my day since there are sleep stories, expert talks, calming music, and more. And I'm not the only one that thinks calm is so great. Calm is the number one app for sleep and meditation. Calm your mind, change your life. Truly Calm has an exclusive offer just for listeners of our show. You can get 40% off a Calm Premium subscription at Calm C A L M.com Newsworthy. Go to calm.comnewsworthy for 40% off. Unlimited access to Calm's entire calm.comnewsworthy now back to Feel Good Friday. A man whose face has been shared all around the world is now using his Internet fame for good. Drew Scanlon is the person behind what's known as the Blinking Guy gif or gif. It shows him repeatedly blinking in disbelief with his eyebrows raised, and people often use it to react to something that leaves them stunned. It's actually been one of the most popular gifs out there for years now. So Scanlan decided to start capitalizing on it for the sake of charity. He introduced himself with a social media post that says, hi Internet, I'm Drew and this is my face. Then he encouraged people to donate to the National Ms. Society. Well, just like his iconic expression, the post went viral and it's led to more than $300,000 in donations. Scanlon says the cause is personal to him since two of his good friends suffer from ms, which attacks people's central nervous systems. So he now considers the meme to be a gift. He's hoping it can make a big difference in Ms. Research and can inspire others to follow his lead. Well, thank you so much for listening today. We'll be back tomorrow with our special edition Saturday episode talking about AI generated podcasts, what's the appeal, and could they put me out of work? Then we'll be back on Monday with the latest news to know. For now, have a great weekend.